Re:Web Scraping in 2016
by Asooka on Tuesday August 23, 2016 @05:58PM
(#12348084)
Well, it's just a technical response code. 200 OK - everything went as normal, here's your data. By the same margin, the door on a shop doesn't stop you walking out without paying and the road markings don't stop you from driving in the wrong lane.
I think imbuing technical protocols with legal implications would be even worse than the current situation since then changing anything on a protocol would require changing the law and getting a protocol implementation slightly wrong would carry real-world legal repercussions on the order of licensing your work in the public domain rather than retaining copyright. Let the lawyers make the law and check the human terms of service before using the data. Trying to out-lawyer the lawyers is like challenging a hedgehog to a butt-kicking brawl.
I think imbuing technical protocols with legal implications would be even worse than the current situation since then changing anything on a protocol would require changing the law and getting a protocol implementation slightly wrong would carry real-world legal repercussions on the order of licensing your work in the public domain rather than retaining copyright. Let the lawyers make the law and check the human terms of service before using the data. Trying to out-lawyer the lawyers is like challenging a hedgehog to a butt-kicking brawl.